Champions League: AS Monaco eyeing famous comeback victory over Benfica

Having just ousted Nantes 7-1 at the weekend, AS Monaco now shift their attention to the second leg of the Champions League play-off with Benfica, where they’ll need to come back from a 0-1 home defeat in order to remain in the coveted competition.

Hutter’s preview

Attending the pre-match conference exuding positivity and hope, Adi Hutter spoke insightfully ahead of this huge fixture.

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“I know Benfica’s statistics against French teams (18 games without defeat, as stated by the ASM website), but tomorrow is a new opportunity. They start with an advantage from the result of the first leg, but we are in Lisbon to be a formidable opponent,” he stated.

“We are focused on tomorrow. It is a knockout match and we will do our best to win. We also know that it will be a difficult match with the atmosphere in the stadium, but we are convinced that we have the means to win. And for that to happen, we will have to put in a very strong performance.

“The situation is very clear, we lost the first leg against Benfica at home, even though we played a good game, mainly in the first half. The two sending offs of Wilfried Singo and Moatasem Al-Musrati were very harsh in my opinion in our first two games, while Carreras was a bit lucky not to receive a second yellow card. I hope we can finish with 11 men tomorrow.”

Cauldron awaits

Knowing what a fortress and an intimidating venue that Estadio da Luz can be, it was intriguing to hear Hutter’s take on the atmosphere that awaits his team.

“Having already been there with Frankfurt in 2019, I know that we will have to face an incredible atmosphere in the stadium. But I repeat, we are convinced that we can turn things around and reach the next round. Of course, we will have to put in a fantastic performance. Benfica will have absentees, us too, but tomorrow we will be ready for this fight,” explained the 55-year-old.

“They are favourites, especially with the result of the first leg. But my players have gained a lot of confidence with the 7-1 victory against Nantes. We will have to put in a great performance, because without that, it will be impossible to hope for anything here. We are ready for this battle and we will see what happens on the pitch. The advantage is for Benfica, but we believe in our strengths and think we can do it.”

Selection questions

Next on the agenda was the selection dilemmas faced by Hutter, who’s hoping Wilfried Singo will be ready to play from the outset after his injury, and knows he’ll have to get creative given the many absences in midfield.

“I hope he [Singo] can help us, I’m glad he’s back in the squad after his injury. We’ll see tomorrow if he’ll be in the starting eleven, but obviously he’ll bring us a lot tomorrow,” he told the press in attendance.

“Benfica also have quite a few absentees. Jordan Teze and Aleksandr Golovin could have helped in this position, but are out for us. Among the regular starters in the number 6 position, there is only Lamine Camara, so we will have to be creative and convinced of our abilities. We will find solutions and we will see tomorrow on the pitch what is possible.”

Referees

Seeing as many refereeing calls have gone against Les Monegasques this term, with Al-Musrati’s red card especially being fresh in the memory from last week’s first leg vs. Benfica, there were some key takeaways to be extracted from the experienced manager’s words on the issue.

“I have to say that we are totally focused on the style of play that we will have to establish tomorrow. Talking about refereeing does not make sense in my opinion, because in football there are emotions, and sometimes you have to be able to control them. I am convinced that referees always try to do their best, even if some decisions can be unfavourable to us. We will face the situation and we will deliver the best possible performance on the pitch,” insisted the Austrian.